Footsteps in the Sand
by JackieStarSister
Summary: A response to lostdisguise's oneshot challenge, Prompt #3 in the Avatar Fic Challenges Forum. Sometimes teachers learn from their students. Please review! *Cover art courtesy of AvatarSpirit website.*


Insults should be written in sand, compliments should be carved into stone.  
>~ Arab proverb<p>

Don't walk behind me – I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me – I may not follow. Just walk beside me – and be my friend.  
>~ Unknown, often attributed to Albert Camus<p>

* * *

><p>"It's so quiet here," Toph said, hearing her voice echo in the cavernous hall of the Western Air Temple. "I can't decide if I like that or not."<p>

"Why is that?" Aang lay down and, like her, put his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

Toph crossed one leg over the other, and started to pick at her toes."Well, it's nice to have a chance to relax, without Ozai's Angels or the Dai Li or Combustion Man chasing us. But it gets boring after a while. I know I should try to appreciate the peace before Sozin's Comet comes, but … I'm out of things to do. We can't even go into the nearest town to have some fun."

"Hmm." Aang knew what Toph meant. "I guess we've exhausted exploring the Temple."

"Yeah, Teo and The Duke and I already went on a bunch of expeditions."

"Well … we could play a game, or read a book, or …"

"Oh yeah, you know I love reading," Toph said sarcastically, waving a hand in front of her unseeing eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Aang was silent for a moment. Then it hit him. That was the answer.

Aang sat up straight. "Toph, I know what we're going to do," he announced.

Toph blinked. "You sound excited. What is it?"

"I'm going to teach you how to read," Aang proclaimed.

Toph's mouth formed a small O. Then she let out a burst of laughter. "Right. Good luck with that."

"I'm serious. And I know a way to make it interesting for you. We'll use earthbending."

Toph's smirk disappeared. "I'm listening."

"Come on." Aang grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She followed him, only slightly reluctant, over to an area of flat stone floor. He kneeled down, and Toph sat cross-legged next to him.

"Written characters are pictures and symbols," Aang explained. "Each character or set of characters means a word or name."

"I kind of gathered that," Toph said, sounding bored.

Aang flexed his hands, cracking his knuckles as he did so. Then he placed his index finger on the floor, and started to trace lines, using earthbending to press the stone down.

Toph could feel Aang moving and the earth shifting, but it was very slight; he only pressed the earth downward a bit, and then in a strange pattern.

Then he stopped. "There." Aang slid Toph's hand over the characters. 拓芙 "This is your name. Toph."

As ambivalent as she tried to be, Aang could tell that Toph was intrigued. She ran her hand slowly over the stone engraving, tracing each line and curve. "So, when someone sees this … picture, they know it means me?"

"Well, kind of. They know it means your name, which means you." Aang moved over and started to carve the same design, but on a larger scale, using two fingers instead of one. "This is also your name. It's the same characters, only bigger. Can you see how they're the same?"

Toph ran her hands over the larger design, studying it for a moment. Then she put her right hand over the bigger characters and her left hand over the smaller ones, comparing them. "Yes."

"These are the only characters that represents your name; and your name has only one set of characters. Unless you want to say 'Toph Bei Fong'; then you would add to it …" He carved two more symbols in front of Toph's name. 北方拓芙. "Surnames are written before given names."

"Huh." Toph reached out and examined her full name. "Interesting."

Aang moved over and traced a new character into the stone. 土 "This is 'earth.' And when I add this, it becomes 'earthbending.'" 運土術

Toph frowned. "Wow, this is complicated. So every word has a different character? And you have to know all of them, to be able to read?"

"Well, you have to know a lot of them. But some words are left out, and you have to guess them from the context of what you're reading. Like … on Sokka's map of the world, each corner has an element written in it, and one of them says, 'Earth is strong.' But it just has the characters for 'earth' and 'strong.'"

"I see." It was true. Once again, Toph was learning a new way of seeing.

"Let's see how much you remember." Aang stood and went over to an unscathed flat area, before tracing a simple character in the stone. "What does this say?"

Toph knelt down and felt it, and smiled in recognition. "'Earth.'"

"That's right! But if I add this – it becomes 'Earth Kingdom.'" 土國

Aang paused. "Is this too fast? We could take a break. Or we could stop altogether."

Toph considered. It was hard, trying to picture – and _remember_ – so many designs. It would take a lot of time and effort to be able to read well. And yet …

What was at her fingertips was but a small sample of what people with vision experienced. Here was a whole new world of words and pictures.

Could she take part in this world?

"Tell me more," Toph said.

* * *

><p>It was their secret. Aang and Toph would slip away together for brief periods of time. If Aang was busy training in firebending, Toph would find a good spot in the Temple and practice bending characters on her own. They always smoothed the stone back, not wanting to leave graffiti on the Temple or tip off anyone as to what they were doing.<p>

Toph learned the words for water, earth, fire, air, nation, strong, hope, and love. If it was hard for a child to memorize the numerous characters, it was twice as hard for Toph, having to picture each one in her head. But it was a challenge, a chance to prove herself; so she was determined to learn as many words as she could.

It was a new experience for Toph, not just in that she was learning a skill, but also in that she had become the student while Aang became the teacher. Truthfully, Aang was the best teacher she'd ever had. The fact that he wanted to teach her to read proved that he believed in her capabilities, and knew that her blindness wasn't a weakness or a deterrent.

Then there was the fact that Toph _wanted_ to learn. It had been so long since she learned anything, and even longer since she felt a real desire to learn – back when she learned earthbending from the badgermoles. Some things people taught her – like the rules of high society, or Master Yu's style of earthbending – were present in her mind for a short time, but then faded or were brushed aside, like sand smoothed by wind or water. But if she concentrated, if she was interested and put real effort into it, she could remember what she was taught, carving what she learned into her mind.

Aang and Toph hoped to show her reading and writing off to everyone at the Western Air Temple, including their new arrivals from the Boiling Rock. But that plan was altered when Azula made a surprise visit/attack. The group was forced to split up. Toph was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to show Haru how she used earthbending to read; but she could still show her closest friends.

Then, Zuko and Katara went off on a "life-changing field trip." Toph and Aang agreed that they would reveal her newfound literacy after Zuko and Katara returned. And their absence gave Toph more time to practice.

The morning after they all met at Ember Island, Aang and Toph had their last session before the revelation they agreed they would make that day. They went down to an area of the beach cut off from the house by several large boulders. It was into these boulders that they carved characters.

"You're doing really well, Toph," Aang complimented.

"Thanks." Toph paused, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if I could write using paper and brush?"

Aang's eyes lit up. "Maybe you can experiment with calligraphy."

Toph frowned. "I'll probably mess up a lot. That would be a big waste of paper and ink."

"I know," Aang said confidently. "First we'll try writing in the sand – that's earth, but it's looser and harder to work with. Then we'll try writing with pens and paper." He grinned. "The others won't believe it!"

Toph sat back and stuck her feet in the sand. "I've heard of deaf people who learned to talk, or even compose music. I guess this is kind of the same thing."

Aang plopped down next to her. "Which do you think would be worse – blindness, or deafness?"

"I would rather be blind than deaf," Toph said candidly. "Being blind keeps me from knowing things; but being deaf would keep me from knowing people."

Aang considered this. "I never thought of that." He hesitated. "If there was a way for you to see … would you want it, or would you want to stay blind?"

Toph frowned. She was silent for a moment, thinking. "I think I would stay the way I am," she said. "The fact that I'm blind … it's a part of me. I know it sounds corny, but honestly, being blind has made me who I am today. Seeing would change the way I look at the world." She shook her head. "That didn't make sense, did it?"

"Yes, it did," Aang said, understanding.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment. Toph couldn't see the beautiful beach, but she could hear the surf as the ocean lapped at the shore, smoothing and shifting the earth.

"Thanks for teaching me, Aang," Toph said. She paused, and then stood up and bowed to Aang. "_Sifu_ Aang.

Aang blinked, then stood and bowed back. "You're welcome. But I couldn't have done it if you hadn't taught me earthbending. So – thanks for teaching me, Sifu Toph."

"I guess we're even, then," Toph said, laughing a little. She punched his arm affectionately. Aang tried to disguise his wince as a smile, though she couldn't see it.

They practiced a while longer before Aang decided they had done enough, that Toph was ready. The earthbenders walked back to Zuko's family's house, leaving two lines of footprints in the sand. They didn't walk one after the other, a leader and a follower. They just walked together, as equals.

* * *

><p>They took their opportunity when everyone went to the courtyard for dinner.<p>

"We have a surprise for everyone," Aang announced.

Suki's face lit up. "I knew it! You guys did have a secret thing."

Katara, Sokka and Zuko froze, staring at Aang and Toph in shock.

"What?" Suki looked around innocently. "They're always sneaking off together. It was kind of obvious …"

Toph slapped her forehead in disbelief.

"Um, it's not what you're thinking," Aang said. "Show them, Toph."

"Tell me what to do," she said, getting into a stance.

The others exchanged surprised and confused glances. Since when did Toph take orders or ask for instructions?

"Write, 'Earth is strong.'"

Toph stomped her foot on the ground. Parts of the stone courtyard sank down, creating several patterns in the stone. The others, except for Aang, were astounded to see that she had carved the characters 土強 meaning "Earth is strong."

Sokka stuttered. "What – how –"

"I've been teaching Toph how to read and write," Aang said proudly.

"Wow!" Katara marveled.

"Cool idea, using earthbending," Zuko observed.

"Great job, Toph," Suki said.

"I had a good teacher," Toph replied.

"Good going, Aang," Sokka said, clapping his friend on the back.

Aang beamed at his student. Toph grinned proudly.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's <strong>**Note:** The prompt made me think of the proverb about sand and stone (both the element earth). I thought about including it in a Zutara forgiveness story; but I already have a pretty good reconciliation scene for them coming up in one of my other stories, and I didn't think I could write another. (But maybe someone else could write such a story using that quote. Just put in an acknowledgement for me.) So I took it in a different direction. Thanks to lostdisguise for the prompt - this is for you! If you haven't already, check out lostdisguise's other prompts in her Fic Challenges forums.

**Disclaimer:** The line about blindness and deafness, knowing people and things, is paraphrased from a Hellen Keller quote.


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